Hawaiian Songbird Named One of America's Hottest Species

Media Release by American Bird Conservancy

The Kaua`i Creeper or `Akikiki has been named one of America’s top ten threatened species impacted by global warming in a new report released December 1. The report, America’s Hottest Species, produced by the Endangered Species Coalition in conjunction with a coalition of groups including American Bird Conservancy, demonstrates ways that our changing climate is increasing the risk of extinction for eleven species around the United States that are on the brink of disappearing forever.

“Global warming is like a bulldozer shoving species, already on the brink of extinction, perilously closer to the edge of existence,” said Leda Huta, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “Polar bears, lynx, salmon, coral and many other endangered species are already feeling the heat. The species in this report are representative of all imperiled wildlife, plants, and fish that are now facing an additional, compounding threat to their survival, and why we need to take action today to protect them.”

“Hawai`i is the epicenter of extinction in the America’s,” said George Wallace, American Bird Conservancy’s Vice President for Oceans and Islands. “There are a number of factors that have led to the disappearance of so many of Hawai`i’s native birds since it was colonized, including introduced pigs, goats, cats, rats, and mosquitoes. Global warming adds a huge new, incipient threat to the `Akikiki and the other remaining endemic birds of the archipelago.”

Local Species in Need
The `Akikiki is a type of honeycreeper, a group of birds that shows tremendous variation, even more so than Darwin’s famous finches of the Galapagos. At least 59 species originally occurred in Hawai`i, but, with human settlement came multiple introductions of exotic species that caused the extinction of all but 17. Avian malaria is a serious threat to the `Akikiki, one that could be exacerbated by global warming. An increase in temperature of slightly less than 4°F in the montane forests of Kaua’i would result in an 85% decrease in the ‘Akikiki’s safe haven area where malaria transmission is currently limited by cool temperatures.

In response to a petition from American Bird Conservancy and Hawaiian bird expert, Dr. Eric VanderWerf, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the `Akikiki under the Endangered Species Act, along with `Akeke`e, another imperiled honeycreeper found only on Kaua’i.

New Book on Climate Change

Tim Flannery, PhD, has written a new book titled : “Now or Never: Why We Must Act Now to End Climate Change and Create a Sustainable Future.” Some of his other books include “The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth.”

Flannery's book highlights strategies for CO2 removal from the atmosphere and includes habitat and ecosystem management strategies from the tropics poleward.

Get a copy of the book today!

Monarch Migration Update

The monarch butterflies are arriving in Mexico!

Read the following report, courtesy of Journey South:

Rocio Treviño reports from Saltillo, Coahulia, Mexico:
All week the monarchs have astonished us during their passage over Saltillo, Coahuila. People say they have not seen the monarchs so numerous in years. The monarchs have formed clusters throughout the city of Saltillo. By about 9:00 every morning, as soon as the sun warms the air to 15°-17° C (59° -62° F), the monarchs begin to fly from the trees where they clustered in parks, near houses, schools, and streams across the city. Hundreds and hundreds of monarch butterflies, spiraling upward in thermals, sometimes so numerous they are difficult to count. I am sending the photos that my 10 year-old granddaughter took in a park to the north of town. Today I continued to see dozens of butterflies rising in the thermals. The butterflies must already be in the state of San Luis Potosí in great numbers, but I have still not received reports. And where is the migration near the coast to the east? My son, Rogelio, was near Victoria, Tamaulipas, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and told me he did not see any butterflies...

Fun Fast Facts on North American birds

Did you know there are about 9,600 bird species in the world, and that more than 2,000 have been recorded in North America? Each one is fascinating. These facts are courtesy of the book The Bird Almanac: A Guide to Essential Facts and Figures of the World's Birds, by David M. Bird, as reported online by Birder's World magazine.

• Fastest-moving bird: Peregrine Falcon diving at 200 mph (320 km/h)

• Slowest-flying bird: American Woodcock at 5 mph (8 km/h)

• Longest-submerged bird: Emperor Penguin at 18 minutes

• Greatest weight-carrying capacity: Pallas's Fish Eagle lifting a 13-lb (5.9-kg) carp -- 160% of body weight

• Slowest wingbeat: vultures at 1/sec

• Coldest temperature endured: -80.5 degrees F (-62.5 degress C) by Snowy Owls • Keenest sense of hearing: Barn Owl • Smallest bird: Bee Hummingbird at 2.24 in (5.7 cm), 0.056 oz (1.6 g) • Largest egg: Ostrich measuring 7 by 4.5 in (17.8 by 14 cm) • Smallest clutch size: 1 egg laid every 2 years by albatrosses

• Greatest wingspan: Wandering Albatross at up to 11 ft 11 in (3.63 m)

• Longest tail feathers: Crested Argus Pheasant at 5.7 ft (173 cm)

• Greatest number feathers: Tundra Swan at 25,216

• Lowest number feathers: Ruby-throated Hummingbird at 940

Images courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Indonesia: Ground Zero for Rainforest Destruction

According to the non-profit organization Rainforest Action Network (RAN), the fashion industry has a dirty secret they would prefer you didn't know: Many of the disposable bags and other designer packaging used by the fashion industry come from one of Indonesia's leading rainforest destroyers.

When top fashion brands buy their disposable packaging from Indonesia's leading rainforest destroyer, they are supporting the destruction of some of the planet's most biologically diverse ecosystems. RAN is asking them to help save rainforests instead.The carbon emissions resulting from Indonesia's rapid deforestation account for around eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions: more than the combined emissions from all the cars, planes, trucks, buses and trains in the United States. This has made Indonesia the third largest global greenhouse gas emitter, just behind the U.S. and China.

RAN has written over a hundred letters to fashion companies, and has seen favorable results, with companies such as H&M severing their ties to companies linked to rainforest destruction. See the RAN website for more information on their campaign and how you can help. http://ran.org/

Are you still seeing hummingbirds?

Fall migration is underway. The following is courtesy of Journey North/South:

While people in the north were saying their last goodbyes, hummingbird migration reached a peak in the Gulf Coast states last week. Swarms of hungry hummingbirds appeared in backyard feeders as they poured down from the north. "We have had over 100 draining our feeders for the past week," wrote an observer in Louisiana. "I'm using 3 gallons of nectar per day," wrote another. A Texas observer with 7 feeders has room for 56 birds to feed calmly. "Calmly doesn't happen at my feeders," he noted. "I tried to estimate the number of flying, hovering, diving, chirping, squeaking, squawling birds" and came up with exactly 201.

You can read all of the observations that people have made at the following link:
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/humm/DataReported.html

You can also report your own observations here:
http://www.learner.org/cgi-bin/jnorth/jn-sightings

Exxon Mobile Guilty of Killing Birds

Last month the E-bulletin focused on PacifiCorp, one of the largest electric utilities in the West, pleading guilty to unlawfully killing Golden Eagles and other raptors and migratory birds in Wyoming:http://www.refugene t.org/birding/ augSBC09. html#TOC07

This month it's ExxonMobil with connections to bird deaths in six states, again mostly in the West (i.e., Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Kansas).ExxonMobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil-and-gas company, pleaded guilty in federal court on August 13 to charges that it killed 85 protected birds, including hawks, owls, and waterfowl.

The company violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in five states over the last five years. The discovered birds died from exposure to natural gas well reserve pits, oil tanks, and waste water storage facilities at Exxon Mobil drilling and production facilities.The company will pay $400,000 in fines and $200,000 in community service fees to waterfowl rehabilitation and preservation programs. ExxonMobil will also be placed on probation for three years and must implement a plan to minimize future bird deaths.

There are thousands of similar energy facilities across the West, including and beyond ExxonMobil. It is unknown how many bird deaths go undetectedThe $600,000 paid by ExxonMobil may seem substantial. Still, the amount is roughly equal to what the company makes in income in 20 minutes, based on their $8.6 billion earnings for the first half of 2009.